Where has the time gone?!?!?

I just read my last post and I can't believe it has been 3 whole months! So much has happened. For starters, I'm due in 6 days!!! Just to touch on my last post (if anyone out there even remembers where I was then!), I nicely settled into not working and in the past couple of months I have gotten a lot of rest and we're just about ready for baby's arrival.

I'm just going to fast forward to today, and not get stuck on filling you in on the daily grind of the past 3 months. Nothing too exciting has gone on, other than a completely healthy pregnancy. I've been so lucky and really really have enjoyed being pregnant!

I had an ultrasound last Monday (8 days ago now), and that was exactly two weeks before my due date... The ultrasound showed that the baby was weighing 8 lbs 4 oz at that point, and I got incredibly nervous about having a c-section. I've just been so afraid of the recovery from a c-section. I know people (a best friend and my sister in-law) who have had c-sections and swear by them...not at all bothered by it. But we live on the 3rd floor and I just really want the freedom to come and go as I please when the baby is here. I'm sure I'll be home-bound for a while anyway, but I still would like to avoid a c-section if possible. Certainly not at the cost of the baby's safety, or anything like that. Anyway, I had this big idea that at my next dr appt (which was last Thursday) my doctor would say - let's schedule you for an induction before this baby gets too big! Boy, was I wrong! When I realized how off I was on this assumption, I just crumbled and cried my eyes out. My poor doctor. He is so so kind and certainly felt sorry that I was upset, but was not budging on his decision to "see what happens." Ugh. I'm actually in no real rush to deliver before my due date, but I'm in even less of a rush to go PAST my due date. If the ultrasound was accurate (which I realize is not always the case), and the baby gains a pound a week (which I also realize is the high end, but still a possibility) and my doctor lets me go 10 days past my due date...she'll weigh close to 12 poundssssssss! That can't happen, right? He won't let that happen, right? YIKES! So there's my big concern these days. That's not to say that I don't have a million other scary thoughts on a daily basis about the baby's health, the delivery, how things will be when we all get home, etc. I even had a dream that I gave birth to a two year old boy! Hahaha! And somehow it wasn't creepy at all. Dreams are strange. Especially these days!

On another note, my mom arrives today! I'm really excited to have her around... I was a little concerned that the baby might not wait until Grammy arrived, but here we are. That's a really good thing - especially for Ed. Poor Ed was so nervous that he'd have to get me through labor without my mom. Hahaha! Poor guy has a very weak stomach and is really unsure about how this is all going to go. I'm sure he'll pull through like a champ at such a time, but I guess ya never know. It'll be nice to have my mom around, putting all of her motherly touches on everything like she does. It seems my mom has taken to being a grandmother much better and whole-heartedly than she took to being a mom. My brother's kids are very lucky and now my little lovebug will be so lucky, too. My brother has my mom close (very close, in fact...in his house!), but I'm ok with the 2000 miles in between us for the most part. I know that my brother and I always had a very close with our grandmother who lived out of state, so I know it can be done. But for this month that she's here, I'll surely enjoy having her simmering stews on the stove and cuddling the wee one while I rest, etc. Although our apartment is cozy and warm, my mom has a way of making every place a little homier. We do really well 2000 miles apart and I'm hoping we won't be at each other's throats in a week... Haha! I really think, given the circumstances, we'll do just fine this time around.

My in-laws have decided that they won't be making it here for the birth of the baby, but that's ok. I understand. Portugal is so far away and they need to be here some time in January or February for our nephew's baptism so they'll meet the baby then.

Let's see...what else should I fill you in after all this time? Oh! I had the most amazing baby shower!!!! 8 of my closest friends (seriously!) put it on and it was seriously the best shower I've ever been to! I'm not sure if I'm partial because it was given in my honor, but really - the girls pulled out all the stops! I should put up some pics! We got showered with more love (and gifts!)than we could have ever imagined!!! Really a spectacular day!!!

Our dear dear friend finished making all the bedding and it came out better than I had hoped! I knew she was talented, but I had no idea just HOW talented! It was her first time ever doing any kind of bedding and she really rocked it! I'll definitely post pics of that soon, too! Our bedroom (reminder: we live in a 1 bedroom, so we combined the nursery and our bedroom) looks so great! We're both really happy with the way it all came out. The baby has everything she would in a nursery (aside from a crib)...the bassinet, a bookshelf filled with her books, her own closet, changing table, glider. Everything. And I really think it looks great...not too crammed or anything, even with all of our furniture. We got rid of the 2 bedside tables that we had (well, put them in storage) and combined our clothes in one closet (can't believe our unborn child has more clothes than we do!) and it's worked so perfectly. So happy about that. The plan still remains to be into a 2 or 3 bedroom place by the time Laney is 6 months old, but still really relieved to be comfy in this apartment for now.

I've gained exactly 40 pounds as of now, and I wish I could say I'm at a stand still. I'm not. My eating has picked back up (after having lost 2 pounds at my appt 2 wks ago, and stayed the same last week) and I'm not really excited to step on the scale at my appt tomorrow. I'm really really hating seeing myself in the mirror and disappointed that my face has gotten so fat! I know it's silly...I know I'm 9 months pregnant. I tell myself that every day. But I was feeling so good...so confident...so "all belly" for so long. And now all I see is this neck...ugh! How silly to get caught up in this at such a happy time, but I can't help it. I foresee a huge struggle to get this weight off after the baby... I hope I'm wrong. I'm already researching switching my gym membership to a gym that offers childcare and classes that I like (I was an avid spinner back in my more active days). Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh! Weight. Such an ongoing stress for me. Ok. I'm done. I'm only 5 pounds over the limit my dr had given me back when I first got pregnant, so I guess that's not too bad.

That about does it for now. I have a long to do list to get done (thanks to the hubby - King of To Do Lists!) today, before my mom comes in. I hope to blog soon!